I haven't lied about reading books, but the one I could never get through was Jane Austen's "Emma", I even made it through Gravity's Rainbow eventually, but not Emma!
I read this article - /Lying mode off
I finished “Emma,” finally, after seeing the movie. And I like Jane Austen, even.
I’ve read three or four of the books on the list, mostly for high school or college classes. I’ve never lied about reading the ones I didn’t read. However, I lied about making it all the way through Mahan’s “The Influence of Sea Power Upon History.”
Didn’t read the article:
Moby Dick
Brothers Karamazoff
Any of “The Russians “
Ha, me too. I learned way more about whale penises than I cared to know.
I read 2 of them. I have no problem saying I didn’t read the other 8.
I wrote a book report on Moby Dick from the Classics comic book version of Melville’s story. Got a B. Assigning that novel to a 12 year old is child abuse, IMHO.
I tried reading Ulysses, but found the style just too distracting.
A big ol’ tip of the hat for finishing Gravity’s Rainbow.
I tried way back when, 1975, IIRC and never could make heads or tails of it.
GR Reminded me of the ending to Mad Magazines 2001 parody.
“How to write an incomprehensible science fiction book and gross millions of dollars”
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Numbers 8 and 5.... I have not read on that list .... :o)
Honest...... Stay safe !
I think that is one that everyone DID read back in the 70s when it came out. And "Johnathan Livingston Seagull". And of course "Love Story".
Atlas Shrugged
I know I really should. And at times my intentions have been really good.
But then I look at all 839 pages and 3 1/2 pounds of it sitting on the coffee table....and I just can’t.
“4. Moby Dick, Herman Melville: If you haven’t managed this one yet, consider that William F. Buckley, Jr. did not actually read this until he was 50, remarking then to friends: “To think I might have died without having read it.””
Well, to paraphrase Buckley: “I wish I had died without reading it...”
Like many ‘classic’ books, it is best viewed on YouTube, or reviewed in Wiki.
I never read “Democracy in America” but last year I did read a biography of Tocqueville with an emphasis on his American trip. Fascinating life.
Have read: 10, 7, and 3. Read some of 6 and 5, but did not finish them.
Ulysses is the only one I didn’t read. Just can’t get past the first 50 pages.
The author missed a book! The number one unread book that people lie about is the Bible!
I’ve read Moby Dick, Les Miserables (three or four times), A Tale of Two Cities, 1984. None of the others on the list. Others that people have lied about I would guess is The Inferno (I’ve read the entire Divine Comedy) and Paradise Lost - all read. I’ve read Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Mansfield Park. I hated Mansfield Park and it may have cured me of Jane Austin. I’ve read all the Shakespeare tragedies and several comedies. I haven’t read the histories for some reason. Mr. Mercat and I were at Max McLean’s production of C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce. Afterwards Max came out and asked who had never read the book. Lots of hands went up. Then he asked who had read part of it (its quite short) and a bunch more hands went up. Then he asked for those who had read the whole thing to raise their hands. About 10 hands went up and this was in a very large theater filled to capacity. I was hoping he’s ask for more than once since I’ve read it three times. I feel like Herminie Granger.
The only one I’ve lied about was Moby Dick. And I had to lie about that for a high school English class.
But I don’t think the teacher was fooled.
I can’t even recall how many times I’ve taken Democracy in America with me on a trip with every intention of reading it. Maybe one day I actually will...